The Knicks have been playing better lately, winning four of their last five despite the fact that they’re dealing with injuries to the likes of Pablo Prigioni and Tyson Chandler, along with the internal team suspension of J.R. Smith.

New York needs a talent upgrade somewhere to continue this recent uptick, and even if the team gets its injured players back healthy, there’s no guarantee that the pieces will continue to fit, especially with Smith’s offense significantly diminished from last season’s mark even before all the nonsense.

It was clear to the Knicks early on that they needed more to be able to compete at a higher level in the East, which is a goal highly possible to achieve considering just how bad the conference has been this season. They tried to acquire Kyle Lowry in trade from Toronto, but lacked pieces of interest to get the deal done, in large part because they gave too many of them to Raptors GM Masai Ujiri in the trade for Carmelo Anthony when he was employed by the Nuggets.

The Knicks are still trying, it seems, and the latest report has them seeking another point guard talent, although one who is disgruntled in his current situation.

From Marc Stein of ESPN.com:

The Knicks are now said to want to work their way into the bidding for Denver’s very available Andre Miller, but the same problem that doomed New York in the Lowry chase a month ago — limited assets to offer — doesn’t bring much hope.

Miller is on a favorable contract to a team like New York which doesn’t have much room to operate in adding additional salary. His current deal is one that pays him $5 million this season, with an extra year at $4.6 million that isn’t fully guaranteed.

But as was noted in the report, the Knicks don’t have too much to offer, and what they do have they don’t want to give up — like more first round picks, or younger talent in the form of Iman Shumpert or Tim Hardaway Jr. who appear to have bright futures.